Le Mans 24 Hours 2019
Live Text
Sort by
LMP2
Unsurprisingly, Gonzalez isn't quite able to live with the pace of the leaders at the moment. the #31 DragonSpeed has lost around 75 seconds during his stint, but at this stage it's all about keeping it on the road. Worrying about the gap won't be conducive to keeping his concentration.
GTE PRO
Alex Lynn has spun the #97 Aston into the gravel at the Porsche Curves - unclear if there was contact.
GTE PRO
Right before that, the #92 Porsche went back into the GTE Pro class lead, with Christensen still behind the wheel.
Slow Zone
We now have a slow zone as a result of Lynn's off.
LMP2
Richelmi has handed the third-place Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA over to Aubry, who is now around three minutes off the top two in class.
Crash
United Autosports is having a lot more trouble in the pits, and is trying to hammer di Resta's door shut.
LMP1
At the sharp end, Conway's lead over Buemi is now up to 14s.
Pit stop
We've had the two leaders in from the head of the LMP2 order in quick succession. Van Uitert has nine seconds in hand now over Thiriet.
GTE PRO
The Aston did return to the pits a few minutes ago, so we're not sure why the full-course yellow remains in place.
Ah - we are now. Marshals are paying plenty of attention to the barrier that Lynn nerfed.
LMP2
We mentioned that Aubry was around 3 minutes off the leaders - that's inflated somewhat due to the slow zone that remains in place at the Porsche Curves.
GTE PRO
At the head of the GTE Pro order, Christensen has been in and out of the pits and retains a 4.3s lead over the #51 Ferrari of Calado that had earlier taken the lead.
Green flag
Looks like marshals are satisfied with the barrier at the Porsche Curves, as the slow zone has been removed.
Crash
But the track isn't clear for long; we've now got a safety car, as the #95 Aston has gone off big time on the approach to Indianapolis.
LMP1
Before the safety car came out, the two Toyotas were 7s apart with Conway leading Buemi. The timing screens are saying it's now 51s, so we'll wait to see whether they end up behind different safety cars.
LMP1
Re our previous post, that would appear to be the case, as the #8 is now close to a minute and a half behinf the lead #7 car.
GTE PRO
It's not been a happy evening for Aston Martin. First Lynn and now Sorensen, who thunders off into the barriers on the approach to Indianapolis, having gotten sideways at the right-hand kink and gone backwards through the gravel. It was a fairly hefty impact and that's their race run.
LMP2
It would also appear that the LMP2 lead battle has been split by safety cars, with Van Uitert now 2m17s ahead of Thiriet at that last split.
Pit stop
The fourth-place #11 SMP and the #1 Rebellion have both pitted under this safety car.
LMP1
Not that it could be avoided, but this safety car has destroyed the lead battle. The two Toyotas are now three minutes apart.
Radio Comms
Buemi has been told he can probably stay out another lap if the safety cars remain out for one more lap. They look as though they will.
GTE PRO
Not only have we lost both Astons from the GT battle, but we're also down to two cars in the lead group, as Christensen in the #92 Porsche and Calado's #51 Ferrari have been separated from the rest. Magnussen, Bomarito, Pilet, Lietz, Westbrook, Hand and Molina are in the chasing pack, but might now need a stroke of luck to get them back into it.
Better late than never, here's a shot of the Aston that caused the safety car.
LMP1
It seems likely the #11 SMP was held at the pit exit after its most recent stop, as Petrov has dropped back behind the Rebellion in the order.
GTE PRO
The AMR crew have done a brilliant job to get the #97 back out on track with Jonny Adam at the wheel, but he's now 7 laps down. It's going to be a long, painful rest of the race from here.
LMP1
Buemi pits the #8 Toyota after that safety car period. Of course, the three-minute gap was never representative because of the reduced speed the cars were at, but getting stuck in a different train did cost the #8 the best part of a minute to the leading #7.
GTE AM
Jeroen Bleekemolen is now 2m24s clear out in the Keating Ford, but it's really close for the podium spots behind him, with the #77 Porsche, #56 Porsche and #84 Ferrari all within 10 seconds. Granted, Julien Andlauer is in the second-placed car, so is beginning to pull away from his pursuers, but you could throw a blanket over Patrick Lindsey and We Lui.
Pit stop
Orudzhev also came in to stop in the #17 SMP car that occupies third. He only has 75 seconds over Menezes, who is pulling clear of Petrov, now.
GTE AM
85 seconds behind Liu, Toni Vilander is right behind Euan Hankey in the battle for fifth, with the #62 WeatherTech Ferrari looking set to imminently demote the TF Sport Aston Martin.
GTE PRO
While we've been looking at the Am class, Pilet has jumped ahead of Bomarito to take fourth in the #93 Porsche. The pack from Magnussen in third back to Hand in eighth is covered by just a matter of seconds, but sadly its now 1m18 behind the two leaders.
GTE PRO
Lead change in GTE-Pro! It's all kicking off isn't it? Calado nips back ahead of Christensen to return the #51 Ferrari to the top spot.
LMP2
Pitstop in LMP2, as Gonzalez comes in from fourth. What can Pastor Maldonado do to get the #31 DragonSpeed ORECA back into the fight?
GTE PRO
Pilet has been very busy since the restart, and now climbs ahead of Magnussen exiting the Ford Chicane to take third.
LMP1
Some pretty severe internet dramas stopped us from declaring the safety-car period was over, by the way. In other news we're not quite as far behind on, Conway has stopped in the #7 Toyota and is now 1m12s ahead of the #8 car.
LMP2
It appears we were a little premature in declaring Maldonado would be jumping on board the DragonSpeed ORECA - it looks like Gonzalez is going to continue and do a quadruple stint.
LMP1
Orudzhev is staking a pretty strong claim for third in the #17 SMP. He has 1m20s in hand over and is lapping at the same pace as Menezes, who has looked absolute mustard in this night stint.
LMP2
Or perhaps we were right after all and Maldonado didn't flick the switch on the transponder. It is the Venezuelan on board after all.
Crash
The #10 DragonSpeed car has finally returned to the track, but it's not all good news; it's going very, very slowly in van der Zande's hands.
GTE AM
Pitstop in the AM class for the second-placed Porsche of Julien Andlauer, who rejoins fourth behind Lindsey and Liu. It's been a pretty good stint so far from Lindsey, who has pulled 21s over Liu since the restart.
LMP2
Our LMP2 leader Job Van Uitert comes into the pits and for the first time in many, many hours, the chasing Signatech-Alpine isn't there with it. That's because Pierre Thiriet was 1m20s behind the Dutchman prior to the stops - he does follow him in on the same tour, though.
By: Geoff Creighton
Published:
Page:
